An Associated Press records requestrecently revealed that the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, where executions are carried out, successfully applied for an import license from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) late last year, for a “Law enforcement purpose”. The license will expire at the end of February next year. The prison’s application specifies importing ready-to-use and bulk supplies of sodium thiopental. It is unclear where Ohio is hoping to purchase the drug, but a manufacturer in India has apparently been approached by other states that want sodium thiopental.

Although the DEA has approved Ohio’s request for an import license, the state may nonetheless have difficulty actually acquiring the drug. A different body, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, regulates imports of drugs; it has stated that the import of sodium thiopental for executions is unlawful.
No wonder Gary Mohr, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, has said,